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St. Petersburg expects more than 7 mln tourists in 2017

The tourist flow to Russia’s second largest city is expected to grow in 2018 due to the FIFA World Cup

© Alexander Demianchuk/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, November 23. /TASS/. St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, is expected to receive some 7.2 million tourists in 2017, a deputy head of the local committee for tourism development said on Thursday.

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St. Petersburg to get first floating hotels in 2018

"We will receive about 7.2 million tourists this year. Almost half of them are foreign guests," Nana Gvichiya said.

According to her, the 2017 FIFA Confederation Cup served as a good practice for the city and its infrastructure ahead of the 2018 World Cup and tested St. Petersburg’s readiness to receive special guests - football fans.

The tourist flow to St. Petersburg is expected to grow in 2018 due to the FIFA World Cup and other events, including the celebrations of the city’s 315th birthday and the spectacular Scarlet Sails festival, Gvichiya said.

Some 6.9 million Russian and foreign guests visited St. Petersburg, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, in 2016.

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